1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fastener assembly, such as a snap button; and applied to an opening in garments, baggages, briefcases, pouches, shoes or other like articles for opening and closing the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical fastener assembly of the type described is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-16655. The conventional fastener assembly is shown to be used on a pouch and comprises a female member mounted on a body of the pouch and a male member mounted on a flap for snap engagement with the female member. The male member is composed of a unitary one-piece plate having a plug protuberantly mounted on one surface thereof. The plate-like male member is folded back around its middle so as to clamp the distal end of the flap between the thus-formed two plate halves thereof. The male member has a through hole formed in either one of the plate halves and has a clinching stud protuberantly mounted on the other half on the inner surface. When the male member is folded back around the distal end of the flap, the clinching stud of the second-mentioned plate half pierces the fabric of the flap and then fitted into the through hole and clinched to the first-mentioned plate half so that the male member is firmly fastened to the distal end of the flap.
However, the conventional fastener assembly suffers the following drawbacks.
The male member composed of a unitary one-piece plate must be folded back around the flap. Making the clinching stud on one half in registry with the through hole of the other half during the folding operation requires very strict precision. If the required precision fails to be met or the thickness of the sheet material of the pouch varies, the clinching stud is likely to come out of registry with the through hole during the folding of the plate-like male member, so that the clinching operation fails. Even if the clinching can be managed at the cost of causing damage around the hole, the resultant male member fastened to the flap is unsightly.
Furthermore, the one-piece plate must undergo folding stresses in its folding axis and also undergo clinching stresses on and around the protuberant stud. This disadvantageously limits the one-piece plate male member in its material, function and its design.